Facebook also insists it won’t use bank information to
target advertising or marketing.

People would use the Facebook Messenger app to
communicate with their banks and make other transactions. More than 1.2 billion
people use Messenger.

“The idea is that messaging with a bank can be better
than waiting on hold over the phone – and it’s completely opt-in,” the statement
said. “A critical part of these partnerships is keeping people’s information
safe and secure.”

So is seeing your checking account balance on social
media convenient or creepy?

Your answer may depend on your generation. If you’re a
baby boomer like I am, born between 1946 and 1964, you may find it creepy. We
still believe there’s something called privacy and we ought to be in control of
our personal information – although holding onto this idea in 2018 is like
grasping Jello.

Facebook’s track record for safeguarding information is
hardly inspiring. It’s still recovering from the fallout of 87 million users
having their information improperly used by Cambridge Analytica in 2016. But
banks and credit card companies have been breached as well.

I’d rather stash my cash under a mattress than trust social
media to safeguard details of my personal finances.

Did I say cash? Cash is quaint. So last century.

One in four adults say they rarely or never carry
cash, and the number jumps to one in three for millennials – those born between
roughly 1981 and 1996, a survey by Capital One found in March. Many millennials consider paying with cash “inconvenient,” the company
reported.

And if you’re a post-millennial or member of
Generation Z, born in 1997 and after, you use your devices all the time and have
grown up paying by phone and plastic.

Teens use cash for only about 6 percent of their
transactions, according to Current, a company that offers a debit card for
teens. Parents load up the debit card to give their kids their allowance.

There’s no doubt shifting attitudes toward money are affecting
us all. Major banks have closed thousands of branches in recent years as more
people choose to bank online, although some smaller banks have opened branches.
Cashless restaurants and shops have proliferated.

Which brings us back to your checking account in the
digital age.

For millennials and Gen Zers, seeing your bank balance
on social media may seem a convenient no-brainer.

Millennials like the idea of using Facebook to access
and manage their money – or they did in 2015 when Capital One conducted a survey.
About 45 percent of millennials said then they’d use Facebook, more than other
social media platforms.

Gen Z may be especially receptive to keeping tabs on
their bottom line on social media. They may not remember pay phones, but many
remember the Great Recession. They saw family members lose jobs and struggle
financially, and it made an impact.

Studies show Gen Zers are more likely than millennials
to save money, so they may want to check their balances often because they know
how easy it is to overspend when paying with plastic and their phones.

But would young people think it cool to do their
banking on Facebook or on another platform? They’ve been quitting Facebook for Instagram
and Snapchat, leaving Facebook with a demographic no marketer prizes.

As The Guardian, a British newspaper, put it: “Is
Facebook for old people? Over 55s flock in as the young leave.”